NACWAA honors athletics adminstrators for service

The National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA) recently honored seven women for their leadership in intercollegiate athletics.

The NACWAA Administrator of the Year Award, which recognizes administrative excellence, is presented annually to members in NCAA Division I-A, I-AA, I-AAA, Division II, Division III, organizations/conferences and NAIA/junior or community colleges.

J. Elaine Hieber, senior associate athletics director at Iowa State University, was chosen as NACWAA's NCAA Division I-A Administrator of the Year. Hieber has been a member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Rules Committee and has served on the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Executive Council and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Committee on Basketball Issues.

Marilyn McNeil, director of athletics at Monmouth University, was chosen as the Division I-AA Administrator of the Year. McNeil is a member of the NCAA Division I Management Council and is chair of the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics.

M. Dianne Murphy, director of athletics at the University of Denver, was chosen as the Division I-AAA Administrator of the Year. Murphy, who has been at Denver since 1998, has served on the NCAA Division I Basketball Issues Committee and is the upcoming president-elect for NACWAA.

Pamela L. Gill-Fisher, senior woman administrator and associate athletics director at the University of California, Davis, was named Division II Administrator of the Year.

Gill-Fisher has served on numerous NCAA committees during her career, including the Division II Management Council. She also has been chair of the Division II Women's Basketball Committee.

Suzanne Coffey, director of athletics at Bates College, was named Division III Administrator of the Year. Coffey serves on the Division III Management Council and has been chair of the NCAA Division III Interpretations and Legislative Committee.

Carol Iwaoka, associate commissioner for the Big Ten Conference, was chosen as Organization/Conference Administrator of the Year. Iwaoka has served on the Division I Initial-Eligibility Waivers Committee and is a member of the Division I Committee on Financial Aid. Iwaoka also is the past chair of the Collegiate Commissioners Association of Compliance Administrators.

Compliance 'hotline' debuts at Kentucky

The University of Kentucky recently announced the creation of "Comply Cats," a toll-free telephone line that will allow university employees, student-athletes and members of the public to report potential misconduct in the athletics program or to ask compliance-related questions. Callers will be asked to identify themselves, but they will have the option of remaining anonymous.

The program, believed to be the first of its kind in athletics, was modeled after a similar successful program established by the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center in 1999.

The Kentucky Athletics Association has hired an independent contractor to establish and monitor the line -- 866/275-CATS -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at the cost of $3,500 annually. The contractor also monitors the medical center's compliance line.

Lee Todd Jr., president at Kentucky, said he hopes the line can assist the school in early detection of any questionable behavior.

"This allows us to hear about violations a lot sooner than we heard them before," Todd told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "So we can take action. I can guarantee you whatever we hear -- and I get copies of the reports -- we're going to investigate.

"In the past, people were afraid of losing their job (if they reported a problem)," Todd said. "Now, if they don't do it, they could lose their job."

-- Compiled by Kay Hawes

Looking back

The 1973 NCAA Convention was the first to honor former student-athletes as NCAA Silver Anniversary Award winners. Since then, 161 individuals have been so recognized through the NCAA Honors Program.

The first class of Silvers: